


Far Out

by Hardshocker



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cars, Dragons, Driving, Multi, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:29:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26645260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hardshocker/pseuds/Hardshocker
Summary: Riley and her pet dragon, Crackle, out enjoying the scenery and finding whatever adventure they can as they both cruise and bomb the country's roads.
Relationships: Mina/Lizzie
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	1. Scenic

“We’re coming up on the first couple of hairpins, Riley. You need to slow a bit down before you hit them,” Riley’s sister said through the static of the cheap walkie-talkie that they had bought before their trip.

Riley reached over to where her favorite companion closely guarded their spare snacks and grabbed the walkie-talkie. “Got it! Going even faster!” She excitedly joked before dropping the device back into the passenger foot well. “Crackle!” Riley announced, getting the undivided attention of her curious pet dragon. “It’s time to take your place. Up, up!” Crackle let out a loud chirp, jumped up to Riley’s shoulder and wrapped himself lightly around Riley’s neck like a bright red scarf. “Good boy!” Another chirp sounded right next to her ear.

“Hey! I see Crackle doing that! This is supposed to be a sight-seeing trip, not autocross! Riley!” 

Riley of course, ignored the sound coming from the walkie-talkie with a quick laugh. In her rearview mirror, she could see a bit of brunette hair flapping in the wind along with a waving arm from an orange muscle car. No doubt her sister was trying even harder to keep her from having an absolute blast after driving over two and a half hours in a straight line. Riley couldn’t help it if her car was more fun when flying through turns and corners rather than trying to push her small engine too hard in straight lines.

With the top down, wind blowing, and Crackle securely wrapped around her, Riley felt full of confidence as she started to see a yellow sign coming up, warning her of the sharp bends. “It says they recommend going at most thirty through it? Nah, lets try forty-five!” She idly said to Crackle. She then noticed how her sister’s car started slowing down and falling back in preparation for the turn.

The guardrail next to the road started to turn in to the left, following the road in the process. Riley braked hard enough to drop her speed to forty-five miles per hour and quickly pushed her clutch pedal in before moving her car into third gear. With a quick reassuring pat on Crackle’s side, Riley secured her grip on the steering wheel and turned into the gentle turn. “This isn’t as bad as Mina said it was…” Riley mused to herself. She spoke too soon though, as the road started to tighten. “Woah, woah, woah!” She shouted as she spun the wheel to keep the car from flying into the guardrail at top speed. Her body pushed against the right side of her bucket seat and she could swear it felt like the car was on the constant edge of having the tires fly out from under her. Riley couldn’t even tell if the sharp squeal she heard came from Crackle or from her tires almost breaking away from the road.

That feeling lasted as long as the road continued to wrap around. It was maybe only five to ten seconds but Riley could swear it felt like minutes on end. The whole time feeling like she was one small mistake or adjustment from spinning out, or at worst, flying off the side of a mountain. It was soon over and Riley could relax for a second. “Wow! Okay, tighter than expected. Little bit slower, Crackle…” Riley announced as she swung the car into a second curve. This time slightly slower to stop the near death feeling from creeping up again. She only wanted to feel that exhilaration from throwing her car through each turn all the while her heart would race. It never got old for Riley and she knew Crackle was feeling it from the way his small claws would dig into her shirt to stop himself from being thrown in each direction.

They hit the second curve and her body slammed to the opposite side of her chair. Her eyes scanned ahead, looking for anything wrong in the road and also to make sure no one would come flying at them from around the bend. The tires didn’t squeal at all through the turn which Riley took as a decently good sign that she didn’t screw up. The third bend pitched them back to the left, but not nearly as tight as the first two, letting her mash the gas pedal to the floor without worrying about possible head-on collisions. Riley took a look in her rear-view mirror and saw that Mina had fallen far behind, likely at only the second turn. She couldn’t worry about that as the final hairpin demanded her attention. A tight right turn, forcing her to slow down so there wasn’t a risk of accidentally falling into the outside lane where she could collide with an innocent driver.

The very second she knew they were clear of risk, Riley pushed out a deep breath that she didn’t even realize she was holding. Her head was light and her heart pounded with the force of the latest club hit. “Holy shit, that was fun!” She announced to Crackle. His response was a light chirp into her ear. Riley pushed her head against his and laughed. “I know buddy… it almost never gets old…” The trees started to shorten as the road climbed the mountain. A small distance ahead, she spotted a turn that was supposed to lead to a parking area where she could stand at the edge of a cliff and look out to the valley down below. “First stop, Crackle! Time for us to stretch!”

Riley swung into the empty parking lot. Crackle, of course, didn’t wait for her to get out before he uncurled himself from her neck and glided down the ground and started to spread every as much as he could in an attempt to shake the stiffness they both felt from being stuck in the car for so long. Her own first step wasn’t as graceful as her knees wobbled a bit when she attempted to push herself up out of her seat. “Man, that got me more than I thought. How do you feel, Crackle?” Crackle looked up at her from the ground and opened his mouth. A couple of fiery sparks flew out and fizzled out into the air with a series of pops. “I’ll take that as a yes then!” She replied as she bent down to pat his head. “You can go and stretch your wings a bit if you want. Just stay in the parking lot where I can see you.”

As he ran off with his small wings spread wide, Riley couldn’t stop herself from smiling at the sight. Crackle didn’t have many chances to get such fresh mountain air so it was nice to see him so excited rather than lazing around at their house. She lost those thoughts when Mina’s car lazily rolled up with it’s exhaust burbling the whole way, parking next to Riley’s own car. The driver side window rolled down and Mina stuck her head out. “I heard your tires skip you jerk!” Mina yelled. “I thought you crashed or something but then I see your ass flying off into the next corner like nothing happened! You said you were going to listen to me if I told you to slow down!”

Riley held her hands up. “I’m fine, Mina! Crackle is fine! I was just making it a little more fun,” Riley said in hopes of stopping Mina’s sisterly rage. It didn’t really work though.

Mina pushed her car door open and jumped out, making a beeline for Riley. “And what was I supposed to do if you had gone flying off the mountain?” She asked angrily while poking a finger into Riley’s chest. “Why shouldn’t I just take your keys ri-”

“Mina!” A voice called from the other side of Mina’s car. “I think she gets the point…” The voice said, followed by a tall, raven haired girl stepped out of the car and made her way over next to Mina. Right as Mina looked like she was about to say something, the girl reached an arm out and trapped Mina’s head, pulling it against her chest. Mina struggled against the girl but wasn’t able to pry her head away.

“Lizzie!” Mina shouted only for it to be muffled by Lizzie's body. As Mina struggled and struggled to get free, Riley could only laugh at her sister’s predicament.

“Are you done yelling, Dear?” Lizzie asked as Mina’s struggles slowed down.

“Yesh…” Came Mina’s muffled reply. With a giggle, Lizzie finally let go of Mina’s head who pulled herself away and started smoothing her hair back out with a red face.

“I’m supposed to be the adult here, Lizzie!” Mina said, clearly annoyed at her authority being destroyed brick by brick. “I can’t do that if you just walk up and make me look like some bratty kid…”

Lizzie shrugged her shoulders. “I know, I know…” She admitted. “I just thought you were being a little harsh on Riley. She should have listened and slowed down but she’s fine! See?” Lizzie pointed at Riley suddenly. Riley, of course, didn’t know what to do in response so she just held her arms up and flexed them with as much confidence a scrawny eighteen-year old girl could. Mina only rolled her eyes and stalked off to go look off the mountainside. Lizzie huffed at the lack of response. She looked back at Riley. “I tried, but you know she’s going to be annoyed about it the rest of the day. Maybe apologise later? I really don’t want to listen to her complain all night when we go to bed…”

Riley glanced back at her sulking sister. “Fine, but you’re buying me a soda at the next gas stop.”

“Uh, no,” Lizzie fought. “I saved your butt from getting chewed out. If anything, you’re buying me a slushie.”

Riley groaned. “Yeah, yeah. You’re right. Only a medium though!” Riley bargained. “If Crackle sees you or me with that slushie he’s going to want some too and I don’t want to pay for a large and a small.”

“Deal!” Lizzie agreed with a smile. “I’m going to go check on Mina…” She said before walking off towards Mina.

As Lizzie walked off, Riley glanced back at where Crackle ran off toward. She saw him running as fast as he could with his wings wide. He would leap into the air and glide for a short distance before landing roughly. The poor little guy was trying his hardest to fly but just couldn’t. Riley wanted to find it sad but it was honestly pretty adorable. It was just a little bit of leftover instincts trying to convince he could fly. “Crackle!” She called out. Crackle instantly stopped in his tracks and looked at Riley. “Here boy!” She yelled while patting her leg. Without hesitation, he bounded toward her at top speed. Riley knew exactly what Crackle was planning and stuck her arm out to her side and waited. With a practiced concentration, Crackle leaped from the ground towards Riley’s arm. His back claws latched onto her shoulder as his body continued around and he draped himself completely across her shoulder. Obviously the claws hurt a bit, but Riley had gotten used to it over the years and she knew Crackle wasn’t trying to hurt her.

Riley leaned her head against Crackle’s body. “Good boy… Did you get the excess energy out?” She asked but was only given a happy chirp as response. “Good, good,” she confirmed. Then she turned and saw Mina and Lizzie facing away from her, facing out off the mountainside with Lizzie’s arm wrapped around Mina’s shoulder. Riley honestly enjoyed the sight of her sister being with someone who really loved her. Especially all the crap she went through in high school… “Do you think I’ll find someone like that for me, Crackle?” Without a moment to think, she felt a sharp headbutt from Crackle which made her laugh. “Oh don’t be jealous. You’ll always be my favorite boy. You know what I meant.” Crackle stood and jumped off her shoulder and floated back toward her car. He gave a quick headbutt to the trunk and opened his mouth to let out what looked like a sparkler from a firework stand. “Yes, I’ll give you a treat or two,” Riley relented. Then she smiled. “You can’t have too much though. You need to save room for some slushie.”


	2. Just a Tiny Bit

Staring out of her window at two in the morning, Riley Westerman felt a boulder of anxiety and nervousness dropping deep into her stomach for the coming morning. She always wanted to travel solo but being out on her own was daunting all of its own. Granted, the faint snoring from Crackle at her side made her feel a tiny bit better. She wasn’t going to be totally alone at least. There wasn’t a single chance she’d leave her little dragon companion behind.

Crackle would refuse to be holed up in the house while she was gone. Even when she was in school, he would nearly burn the house down if she wasn’t home immediately after school. Riley would have to rush home to see him and then he would stay stuck to her side until the next morning when she had to go back. She didn’t care though. Crackle was her best friend and now her partner on an unplanned road trip. One where she would just pick a direction and drive.

It was because of the unplanned nature of the trip that Riley hadn’t quite told her family about it. She honestly just wanted to get away and see some sights but she also knew her sister wouldn’t be too happy about the idea. Which is why her probably too few bags were packed and hidden in her closet. Ready for a quick getaway. Thankfully, her sister would probably still be asleep which should give herself plenty of time to throw her bags into the car before being noticed. There was a prickling feeling in the back of Riley’s mind that her sister wouldn’t be all too happy about her plan.

A soft buzzing came from next to her. Her phone was letting her know it was time to start gathering her bags and head out. With a quick pat on Crackle’s head to wake him up, Riley was up and off her bed. She grabbed two bags out of the back of her closet. One with her clothes plus some extra cash and the other held Crackle’s food, her road snacks, and necessary toiletries. Hopefully, it would be enough for at least three days without having to go to some store to restock.

Riley turned to look at Crackle. “Ready to go?” She asked him. Crackle’s response was to stretch his wings out wide with a yawn. “I’ll take that as a yes then…” Riley mumbled. She gave him a few pats and went out her door with bags in hand. As they both crept silently down the hall, Riley noted that her sister’s door was closed and let out a quiet breath that she was holding. There wasn’t much reason to be too relieved though, as Riley could hear crying coming from the other side. A deflated feeling poured into her at the sound. Leaving suddenly in the middle of the night like this wasn’t going to help her sister in any way, but Riley couldn’t stop at this point and she wasn’t a fan of making a big deal out of her leaving. She just had to ignore it and keep going. Knowing her sister was awake, Riley had to creep even more carefully throughout the house and out the normally very squeaky front door.

In the driveway was the family’s reliable road trip machine. A long wagon that had plenty of room for her bags and space for Crackle to stretch out when he needed to. It definitely looked boring compared to her sister’s bright orange muscle car, but Riley greatly preferred the gas milage of the wagon. The sight of Mina’s gas expenses would forever haunt her. It did remind her to stop by a gas station on the way out of town to fill the tank up though.

She threw the bags into the back of the car and shut the hatch. The thump it made wasn’t all that loud but it did make Riley look back up to Mina’s window to see if she was noticed. There was a light on, but no prying eyes peeking through the blinds. Riley remembered that her sister was probably a bit distracted and felt a pang in her chest. It wasn’t just in her to go check on Mina. Emotions weren't her strong suite. There was only one thing she could do for her sibling. She sighed and pulled her phone out to dial a number. It rang a few times before a sleepy voice finally answered.

“Hello? Riley? Why are you calling so late?” The voice asked.

“Sorry for waking you up, Lizzie…” Riley apologized. “I can’t talk much, but I was just calling to tell you that I think Mina could use some support. I passed by her door and I think I heard her crying…”

There was a pause before Lizzie replied. “Thanks for letting me know, Riley. I’ll call her. How are you holding up though?”

Riley felt her insides cringe at the question. “I’m fine. Just pulling an all nighter since I don’t have work tomorrow. A couple of snacks here. Some sodas over there. You know how I do,” Riley assured with a half-hearted laugh.

“I’ll take your word for it,” Lizzie said, clearly unconvinced. “Maybe get a little bit of sleep in a bit. It really helps sometimes.”

“I know. Thanks for the concern. I’m going to hop off so you can call Mina,” Riley said.

“Night, Riley. Stay safe,” Lizzie replied.

“Night,” Riley confirmed before she hung up. Satisfied that she may have made her leaving a bit easier on Mina, she helped Crackle jump up into the passenger seat before dropping herself in the driver’s side. She waited a minute to give time for Mina to be talking to Lizzie and turned the ignition. The car vibrated to life effortlessly as the dashboard lights flicked on. Riley threw the car into drive without wasting a single second, immediately driving out of the driveway onto their neighborhood road. One last glance towards her house, then both her and Crackle were out on their own.

* * *

Turns out, starting a long trip at nearly three in the morning is a mostly bad idea. Riley had learned this about two hours after they left. She had yawned at least ten times within the last five minutes and her eyes really wanted to close themselves for a quick rest. Though a nap while on the highway seemed like a terrible idea. Crackle was curled up in the back of the car, laying on top of his favorite blanket while Riley, on the other hand, wanted to make it another hour or so before finding a good place to stop and rest for a bit. She was well prepared for a nap in the back with Crackle. There was a super thick and soft comforter, a pillow, and a sleeping bag to help her stay warm at night.

The constant staring out onto the highway was causing her mind to wander too much though and she figured she would have to cut the driving short. The main goal now was to find somewhere to park and sleep. Preferably, it would be a park or something with a good view, but she wasn’t anywhere close to a place like that yet. She'd just have to settle for the far corner of a retail store’s parking lot. Most would worry about strangers coming up to their car while asleep, but most people wouldn’t bother a car guarded by a dragon, which are known to have razor sharp teeth and very loyal attitudes. Crackle is actually very sweet with most people, but he knows when it’s time to protect his owner. Especially when she’s asleep in the back of a car.

Even now, just the thought of going to sleep was making her even more drowsy. Her head dipped for only a second, but it was enough for her to realize her car had drifted enough to hit the rumble strips on the side of the highway. The sudden vibrations and noises surprised her and made her jerk the car back into the lane properly. She heard a groan behind her and felt safe to assume the sudden movements caused Crackle to wake up.

“Sorry, Buddy,” Riley apologized. “You can go back to sleep. I’m about to find a place to pull over and sleep myself.” There was a soft chirp from behind her so Riley assumed she was forgiven and that he went back to sleep. A few miles down the road showed a sight that said a rest stop was waiting for her at the next exit. She said a silent thank you to the Love’s truck stop gods and beelined straight toward it.

Just a few miles later and she was setting up her makeshift bed off to the far side of a truck stop parking lot. It was still warm out so she thankfully didn’t have to unravel her sleeping bag this early into the trip. In fact, the sun made it necessary to keep the car running for the air conditioner. Riley didn’t see much point in dying of heatstroke in the back of her car. They weren’t very far into the road trip yet after all. Now she could see all of the other people who were on their own trips filling up at the gas pumps.

All kinds of characters passed through while she waited for her eyes to finally close. Plenty of rednecks in their giant trucks, a few nice cars with owners looking uncomfortable to be at a truck stop, and even a nice example of a JDM car pulling up to one of the pumps. Then the door opened of said car and Riley was instantly enraptured. Tall, pierced, and beautiful short hair as black as a solar eclipse.

Nothing would have been able to pry her eyes away. Except maybe her phone as it lit up and was trying it’s hardest to blare her ringtone despite the fact that Riley had set it to silent. Her sister’s name was plastered across the screen and Riley cursed to herself at that sight. It made sense since they would have realised she was missing by now, but she wanted to have a bit more time and distance from her family.

* * *

Even at the top of a mountain, Riley still couldn’t see everything. Rolling brown hills covered in giant rocks and boulders spread out under her for miles and miles, but it still felt pretty small. A series of pops and sizzles reminded her that not everyone felt the same though. Her partner through this whole journey, Crackle, could be seen happily bounding around and on top of random rocks around the peak. Riley couldn’t help smile as he jumped to the top of a nearby boulder and leaped into the air with his wings spread wide. Slowly, he glided to the next boulder and continued on with a loud trill each time he landed on a new peak. There was something she enjoyed in how happy Crackle was, just running and exploring a small mountain peak.

It was a thought that was ruined by her phone vibrating incessantly in her pocket. It had been over twenty-four hours since she had sneaked off in the early morning. Five calls from her dad, two calls from Lizzie, and dozens on top of dozens of calls from her sister. Normally, Riley would just let it ring so she could just concentrate on her trip, but maybe the peaceful feeling the mountain gave her was just enough positive vibes to put up with her sister right now. So she finally answered the call.

“Hello?”

“Oh my god, Riley! Where are you?” Mina almost screamed through the phone.

Riley rolled her eyes. “Me and Crackle are about ten hours away, I think. We’re just enjoying a mountain,” she replied casually.

“Ten hours‽ You’ve been gone for nearly two days!”

“You want me to be further?” Riley asked, trying to lighten the tenseness she was starting to feel inside her head.

“I just don’t want you to be so far out while being by yourself, Riley. And no, Crackle doesn’t count!” Mina pointed out. “What would you do if the car broke down? Or if you got hurt somewhere?”

“I’m not a kid anymore. You know that, right?” Riley argued.

“That’s not wh-”

“And I’m fine. It’s not like I’m going to jump off the mountain or something,” Riley interrupted. "It's just a little road trip to get away for awhile. Nothing more, nothing less. I'll be back within the month at the very least. Look at it this way. Now you'll be able to just be with Lizzie without having to worry about me."

"You're not helping me feel any better you know…" Mina said, clearly deflating at Riley's ability to side step everything.

"Feeling is mutual, Sis," Riley said back.

"Whatever," Mina replied. "Just stay safe and keep Crackle with you. Bye."

"See ya la-" Riley began but stopped when she heard the other end hang up on her. "At least she won't be calling back for awhile…" It was true. It'd probably only be a day before Mina would start calling again, but it was enough of a break for Riley. Her mind rippled with the same thought though. The desire to just drive a little bit more. Increase the distance that much more. As far as her car would take her. She didn't really know why she wanted it, but she was a sucker for unexplained and maybe terrible ideas.


End file.
